Phillips Financial Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Phillips Financial Management LLC grew its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra by 225.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 180.4% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at $618,823.35. This trade represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sempra Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE SRE opened at $69.00 on Thursday. Sempra has a one year low of $64.89 and a one year high of $95.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.37%.

Sempra Profile

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.